Why Anxiety Feels Worse at Night (and what to do about it!)

Who Are You Without The Anxiety?

What's left when the anxiety finally subsides? In this episode I talk about a part of recovery I LOVE: when anxiety has been part of you for years, you get to actually rediscover who you are without it. I share how anxiety became the center of my own identity, why losing it can feel disorienting, and the practical work of reclaiming the person underneath the fear. Plus - a few things I discovered I love on the other side of the fear. If you've ever wondered who you'd be without anxiety making your decisions, this one's for you! SOURCES:  -https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25547522/ (ACT is effective across anxiety, depression, and other problems, and is roughly comparable to established treatments like CBT.) -https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11837766/ (Valued action and psychological flexibility are linked to better wellbeing.) -https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2352250X15001062 (The role of values and committed action in ACT.) FREE Recovery Guide: https://the18minutes.com/   TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@the18minutes [https://www.tiktok.com/@the18minutes] Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the18minutes/ [https://www.instagram.com/the18minutes/] YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@the18minutes [https://www.youtube.com/@the18minutes] Email: amanda@the18minutes.com [amanda@the18minutes.com]

What To Do When Anxiety Comes Back

What do you actually do when anxiety comes back after you thought you'd put it behind you? In this episode I talk about why recovery was never a straight line to zero, and why I measured my own recovery by "widening the gaps" between panic attacks instead. I get into why a single anxious moment usually isn't the "setback" you think it is (and what a real setback actually is), the science of why anxiety can resurface even years later, and a story from a trip well into my recovery when panic showed up at the worst possible moment. Plus the exact response that keeps a hard day from snowballing, and why taking care of your basics is maintenance, not a safety behavior. If you've ever thought "I'm right back where I started," this one's for you! SOURCES: -Reinstatement of extinguished fear by an unextinguished conditional stimulus. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3343277/ -Enhancing Inhibitory Learning: The Utility of Variability in Exposure. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6884337/ (Why practicing across varied situations helps the new learning generalize and stick.) -Delayed Extinction Attenuates Conditioned Fear Renewal and Spontaneous Recovery in Humans. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2749460/ (Repeated, spaced practice reduces the return of fear over time.)  FREE Recovery Guide: https://the18minutes.com/   TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@the18minutes [https://www.tiktok.com/@the18minutes] Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the18minutes/ [https://www.instagram.com/the18minutes/] YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@the18minutes [https://www.youtube.com/@the18minutes] Email: amanda@the18minutes.com [amanda@the18minutes.com]

What Partners of Anxious People Need to Know

If you love someone with disordered anxiety, your most loving instincts are often what's keeping their disordered anxiety alive. I unpack the research on family accommodation, why reassurance is a long-term harm even when it feels kind in the moment, and the caregiver burden conversation we shy away from. Includes real examples from my own recovery and how my partner showed up alongside me. If you're an anxious person who has been trying to figure out how to talk to your partner about all this, send them this one!  SOURCES: -Spouse and Partner Help - Anxiety & Depression Association of America https://adaa.org/finding-help/helping-others/spouse-or-partner -Measuring Family Accommodation of Childhood Anxiety: Confirmatory Factor Analysis, Validity, and Reliability of the Family Accommodation Scale - Anxiety: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6881529/ -Subjective caregiver burden and anxiety in informal caregivers: A systematic review and meta-analysishttps://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0247143  FREE Recovery Guide: https://the18minutes.com/   TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@the18minutes [https://www.tiktok.com/@the18minutes] Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the18minutes/ [https://www.instagram.com/the18minutes/] YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@the18minutes [https://www.youtube.com/@the18minutes] Email: amanda@the18minutes.com [amanda@the18minutes.com]

Agoraphobia 101: What It Is and How To Recover

Has your world been gradually getting smaller? Fewer places you'll go, more cancellations, a mental map of where it feels safe and where it doesn't? You might be dealing with agoraphobia. In this episode I unpack the real definition (it's not "fear of open spaces"), the panic-and-avoidance loop that builds it, a little entry-level neuroscience on what your amygdala and sympathetic nervous system are doing along the way, and exactly how recovery works using a four-phase framework I created for you. Plus, specific exposure ideas you can actually use. Enjoy!  Sources:  -https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/agoraphobia -https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK554387/ FREE Recovery Guide: https://the18minutes.com/   TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@the18minutes [https://www.tiktok.com/@the18minutes] Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the18minutes/ [https://www.instagram.com/the18minutes/] YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@the18minutes [https://www.youtube.com/@the18minutes] Email: amanda@the18minutes.com [amanda@the18minutes.com]

Overpreparing Is Making You Anxious

Overpreparing might be the most socially acceptable safety behavior there is. It doesn't always look like anxiety, it looks like being responsible! In this episode I unpack what overpreparing actually is, why our brains love it so much, and the mental and physical cost we pay for it. Then we talk about how to gradually let go of it without flipping your whole life upside down, and what life looks like on the other side. If you're tired of running the worst-case version of every situation in your head before it happens, this one is for you!! SOURCES:  - LaFreniere, L. S., & Newman, M. G. (2019). [Exposing Worry's Deceit: Percentage of Untrue Worries in Generalized Anxiety Disorder Treatment](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32044024/). *Behavior Therapy*. - Companion episodes referenced: "Safety Behaviors," "Reassurance-Seeking," and "How To Practice Acceptance" — The 18 Minutes Podcast. FREE Recovery Guide: https://the18minutes.com/   TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@the18minutes [https://www.tiktok.com/@the18minutes] Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the18minutes/ [https://www.instagram.com/the18minutes/] YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@the18minutes [https://www.youtube.com/@the18minutes] Email: amanda@the18minutes.com [amanda@the18minutes.com]